Make
the Sentence from the Clause, Part 1

Objective: By the end of this lesson,
you should understand that subordinate clauses follow most of the same rules as
main clauses.

Introduction

Remember:

clause = sentence

One of the most important skills that we can
learn is "make the sentence from the clause." That means that whenever
we have a subordinate clause, we have a sentence.

Note: There are NO commas
in these exercises. For this skill we should be able to complete the exercises
successfully WITHOUT looking for commas.

Step 1, Easier: Adverb Clauses

Objective: By the end of this lesson, you should understand that the
first word (if, because, although, when, where, so that, etc.) in this
type of clause is NOT part of the "sentence from the clause."

Adverb clauses are the easiest ones to understand because the subordinating conjunctions
that we use to make an adverb clause are not part of the sentence.

Instructions

Find the subordinate clause.

Make the sentence from the clause.

Notice that we did not use the subordinating
conjunction in the "sentence from the clause."

We can see an example in the first question.

1.

Sentence

I went to bed because I was sleepy.

Sub Clause

because I
was sleepy

Sentence
from the clause

I was
sleepy

2.

Sentence

I study hard so that I can raise my TOEFL score.

Sub Clause

so that I can raise
my TOEFL score

Sentence
from the clause

I can raise
my TOEFL score.

3.

Sentence

I like to listen to jazz when I am studying.

Sub Clause

when I am studying

Sentence from the
clause

I am studying

4.

Sentence

Because I wanted
to learn Japanese I took an intensive class at the community college at night.

Sub Clause

Because I wanted to learn Japanese

Sentence from the clause

I
wanted to learn Japanese.

5.

Sentence

If you should need a hand I would be more than delighted to help you.

Sub Clause

If you should need a hand

Sentence from the clause

You
should need a hand.

6.

Sentence

After I got home from school I sat down in front of the TV and didn't think about
TOEFL for the rest of the night.

Sub Clause

After I got home
from school

Sentence
from the clause

I got home
from school.

7.

Sentence

My language skills while they are getting better every day could still stand improvement.

Sub Clause

while they are getting better every day

Sentence from the clause

They
are getting better every day.

Step 2, Medium: Adjective Clauses

Objective: By the end of this lesson, you should understand that the first word
(that, who, whom, which, where, when, etc.) in these clauses IS part of
the "sentence from the clause."

Adjective clauses are a little
bit harder than adverb clauses because the first word has two functions:

The Two Functions of a Relative Pronoun

first,
the first word in the clause (that, which, who, whom, when, where, etc.)
is a connector

second, the subordinating conjunction is also
a pronoun--that means it replaces another noun.

We just learned that the subordinating conjunction in an adjective clause replaces
another noun. That noun has a special name--it is called the head noun.

Instructions

Find the subordinate clause.

Find the head noun. We MUST use the head noun in the "sentence
from the clause."

Find the first word (the relative pronoun).

Make the sentence from the clause.

We must make sure that the head noun
is in our new sentence.

We should realize that the relative pronoun
does NOT include a determiner. In other words, sometimes we will have to add the,
a, my, her, etc.

We should notice that the first word (the relative
pronoun) = the head noun.

We should notice that we need to use the first
word (the relative pronoun) in the "sentence from the clause."

We can see an example in the first question.

8.

Sentence

The car that you
bought is really nice.

Sub Clause

that you
bought

Head
Noun

car

Sentence from the clause

you bought the car

9.

Sentence

I bought the book that you told me about.

Sub Clause

that you told me
about

Head Noun

book

Sentence from the clause

You
told me about the book.

10.

Sentence

The woman whom we met was very helpful.

Sub Clause

whom we met

Head Noun

woman

Sentence from
the clause

We met the woman.

11.

Sentence

The city that I am
from is Kyoto.

Sub
Clause

that I am from

Head Noun

city

Sentence from
the clause

I am from Kyoto.

12.

Sentence

The store that we
went to had really good prices on clothes.

Sub Clause

that we went to

Head Noun

store

Sentence from
the clause

We went to the
store.

13.

Sentence

People who study hard and go to school every day usually get better grades.

Sub Clause

who study hard and go to school every day

Head Noun

people

Sentence from the clause

People study hard and go to school every day.

14.

Sentence

The movie that we were talking about was too long and boring for me.

Sub Clause

that we were talking about

Head Noun

movie

Sentence from the clause

We were talking about the movie.

Step 3, Harder: Noun
Clauses

Objective: By the end of this lesson, we should realize that
the first word in these clauses is SOMETIMES part of the "sentence from the
clause" and sometimes NOT part of the "sentence from the clause."

Noun clauses are a little bit harder than adjective clauses because the
subordinating conjunction sometimes has only one function (it only joins
two clauses) and sometimes the subordinating conjunction has two functions
(it joins two clauses and is also a pronoun). In other words, sometimes the subordinating
conjunction only connects, sometimes it connects and replaces another noun.

Instructions

Find the subordinate clause.

Look at the first word. Decide whether it is a subordinating conjunction or a
relative pronoun.

Make the sentence from the clause.

As we
are doing this exercise, we should notice that the first word that is NOT
a relative pronoun, but that the first word what IS a relative pronoun.

15.

Sentence

I know that you are smart.

Sub Clause

that you are smart

SC or RP?

sc

Sentence from
the clause

You are smart.

16.

Sentence

What you said was
pretty funny.

Sub
Clause

what you said

SC or RP?

rp

Sentence from
the clause

You said something.

17.

Sentence

I need to know which
car you want to buy.

Sub Clause

which car you want
to buy

SC or RP?

sc

Sentence from the clause

You
want to buy which car.

18.

Sentence

I know when you left last night.

Sub Clause

when you left last
night

SC or RP?

sc

Sentence from the clause

You
left last night.

19.

Sentence

I know how many languages you speak.

Sub Clause

how many languages
you speak

SC or
RP?

sc

Sentence from the clause

you
speak languages

20.

Sentence

I was really surprised by what she said.

Sub Clause

what she said

SC or RP?

rp

Sentence from
the clause

She said something.

21.

Sentence

How much money your
friends make should not be important to the friendship.